REPAIR OF VARIABLE SPEED DRIVES REDUCES COSTS AND DOWNTIME

摘要

As the legislation surrounding the efficiency of electric motors continues to tighten, the volume of variable speed drives (VSDs) in service increases. Often specified by the motor manufacturer as part of the original installation, or retrofitted to improve efficiency, the drive contains both hardware and software that is designed to work with a motor in a specific application. So, what happens if the drive ceases to operate? Brian Park from service, maintenance and support specialist, Sulzer, looks at the advancing technology and the maintenance processes that need to keep pace Inverters, variable frequency drives (VFD) and VSDs are all effectively achieving the same goal: to control the speed and torque of an AC motor by varying the frequency and voltage of the motor supply. In modern applications they can interpret a range of input signals and vary the motor output according to the predefined software that is installed. In this way drives are capable of making significant energy savings by matching the motor output to the demands of the process.